After seven long days of poker, the World Poker Tour has crowned its newest champion at Playground Poker Club: Jared Mahoney. Mahoney defeated three-time WPT finalist Darryll Fish heads up after a grueling final table that lasted nearly 10 hour, capture the top prize of CAD $453,122 that also includes a US $15,400 seat into the WPT Tournament of Champions, and a Hublot Oceanographic 4000 watch.
“I knew it was going to be extremely tough,” Mahoney, who entered the final table last in chips, said after the win. “But I knew from the beginning that I was going to go for first place.”
As it is a custom on the World Poker Tour, the final table started with six hopefuls vying for their name etched onto the Champions Cup. For this event in Montreal, Playground Poker added their special Championship belt, and the 697 total entries created a total prize pool of more than CAD $2.3 million.
The only remaining Champions Club member was chip leader Brian Altman, who got off to a rocky start. On the twelfth hand of play, it was Carter Swidler who doubled up through Altman holding ace-king suited against king-jack of diamonds. Swidler had flopped a pair of aces and managed to hold up when the money went in on the turn against Altman’s flush draw.
Exactly 12 hands after Swidler doubled up, it was AJ Gambino who hit the rail in sixth place. Gambino ended up all in with pocket nines against Darryll Fish’s ace-queen, and the flop gave Fish a pair of aces right away. Gambino collected CAD $87,520 for his deep run, and Fish moved into second place.
Two hands later, Fish grabbed the chip lead, and over the course of the final table no less than four players would be in pole position. Kempe and Altman fought out some ferocious battles, and the latter even managed to five-bet shove on his opponent without getting called. Altman showed the four of clubs after Kempe folded, and raked in 1.3 million chips without seeing a flop.
After taking a blow from Altman, Kempe doubled up a few hands later through Mahoney. Kempe got his chips in with pocket nines on a seven-high flop against Mahoney’s seven-five. Kempe’s hand held up and Mahoney was left very short. The eventual champion started his comeback with a double up through Altman, right before Swidler exited in fifth place.
Swidler called all in from the big blind when Altman shoved on him from the small, and the all-in player tabled ace-nine suited. Altman held jack-ten of spades and managed to hit a jack on both the turn and river to secure the knockout. Swidler took home CAD $108,410 for his fifth-place finish, the biggest live tournament result of his poker career.
Altman’s stack was decimated by Mahoney when the eventually winner doubled through him again. This time Altman held a flush draw against Mahoney’s top pair, and the neither turn nor river changed the outcome of the hand. The 100th hand of the final table spelled the end for Altman, who shoved jack-five from the small blind for his last nine big blinds, only to get called by Mahoney’s king-six. Altman caught nothing on the board and he exited in fourth place for CAD $144,780.
Fish started three-handed play as the short stack, but after a 59-hand battle between the final three, he went into play heads-up for the title as the chip leader. Three-handed play went back and forth and saw many lead changes, but ultimately it was Kempe who was sent to the rail in third place.
Kempe shoved holding nine-seven suited after Mahoney raised, and the initial raiser called with ace-six of clubs. Kempe flopped top two pair, but Mahoney turned a flush to send Kempe to the payout desk to collect CAD $195,940.
Fish started with 11,150,000 versus Mahoney’s 9,700,000, and after 50 hands of relatively small pots, it was one big final clash that closed the dealer for Mahoney. Mahoney got three-bet shoved on by Fish, who held ace-deuce, and Mahoney’s ace-king turned out to be victorious.
Final table payout:
1st: Jared Mahoney – CAD $453,122
2nd: Darryll Fish – CAD $304,343
3rd: Rainer Kempe – CAD $195,940
4th: Brian Altman – CAD $144,780
5th: Carter Swidler – CAD $108,410
6th: A.J. Gambino – CAD $87,520
Photography provided by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com